It was just supposed to be a routine infiltration in the Shinomiya household. I've done this a thousand times. It's quiet, too quiet.
I lift up my night vision goggles and sigh. I've got to complete this mission no matter what. For her sake.
I enter my targeted room. Inside, a wide space with only an office desk and a computer on top of it. The moonlight flows through the giant glass wall. I approach it, turn on the computer, and plug the flash drive into the USB port. The hacking program activates and breaches the log in screen. A window comes up to the screen and begins downloading all of the Shinomiya Group's files. Fiscal reports, company e-mails, future plans, and the like.
"Alright, this is going well so far," I whisper. I look around the room once more. Other than decorative art pieces, plants, and furniture. "The security of Hayabusa Corp. is assured!"
I look back at the loading bar, only to see it stop at ninety-nine percent. What the hell? I type several codes into the keyboard to get it to work, but it remains stuck. This is not going well.
"Indeed, it is not going well for you; Hayabusa Motoshige." A voice speaks from the door of the room.
"Wha- ugh!" The flash drive popped and the screen went black. All those company secrets, lost! I thought.
I looked up from the screen to see a woman about my age, with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a maid uniform. Behind her were several heavily-armed guards carrying high-powered rifles with laser pointers attached. All pointed at my head.
"You know who I am?" I raise my hands and look directly at the maid's blue eyes. They stared blankly back at me, devoid of emotion.
"Of course. Hayabusa Motoshige, first-born son of Hayabusa Yatsuharu, CEO of the Hayabusa Corporation. A company with various assets in supermarkets, trains, shipping, and in natural resources. But your power is but a speck in the face of the Shinomiya." She raised a hand, and several clicks were heard from the rifles. Most likely the men turning off their safeties. The emotionless maid continued to stare at me. If only she smiled more, I thought, she'd be really cute.
"We've been expecting an attack by the Hayabusa Corp. for some time," she continued, "but we never could have guessed it to directly assault the household of Lady Kaguya. You have committed suicide, Hayabusa. Your company is being assimilated into the Shinomiya Group as we speak."
"That's impossible! Father would never consent to it!" I shouted. The air was ripe with tension, and the rifles all pointed their barrels towards my heart.
"No, I have seen to it already," A new voice spoke, coming from behind the maid, who stepped aside and bowed as the figure stepped into the moonlight. "The company takeover was my brainchild ever since father allowed me to take action against any rival power against the Shinomiya family."
"Let me guess, you must be Kaguya Shinomiya, is that correct?" I asked the figure. She was also about my age, up to my shoulder in height, her long hair flowing down her back, complemented by her vibrant red eyes.
"Correct, and as Hayasaka was stating, this was a very foolhardy move Hayabusa-san. May I ask what brought it on? You didn't think it would be that easy to sneak into my house now, did you?" She said, red eyes looking directly at my brown ones. They're very unnerving.
"To tell you the truth, we didn't have many options. It was either all in, or wait for our slow collapse." I admitted. I scanned the room for potential escape routes. There seemed to be none except for the giant window behind me, but that's at least a three-story fall down…
"Well, it was all for nothing. You see," Kaguya pulled out a flip phone and showed me a picture. I didn't know of what since I couldn't see it very well. "This is a contract signed by your father. Surrendering all of the Hayabusa Corp's stocks to the Shinomiya Group. As of this moment, your father's company has ceased to exist." She finished.
"No, it can't be…" I whispered. "That's not true! It's impossible!"
"Oh, it is very possible. You underestimate my power, Hayabusa." Kaguya gave her phone to the blonde maid Hayasaka, who approached me and showed me the picture to read. Truly, it was signed by my father, and although I couldn't understand some of the jargon, the intent was clear. We truly were no more.
"So, what will you do now, Hayabusa? Your life is mine. Perhaps I should just end it here…?" Kaguya asked, with an almost near-psychotic grin.
It's hopeless. There's nothing left to fight for. I thought. Wait, there's still that.
"Wait," I called out, "I know something you don't."
"Oh?" She tilted her head quizzically, "I find that very unlikely. What could you possibly know that the Shinomiya group does not?"
"We have Miyuki Shirogane."
The silence in the room was deafening. Kaguya stared straight at me, her smile completely wiped from her face. Hayasaka eyed me warily, and stepped to Kaguya's side immediately.
"The president... you have him?" Kaguya asked, her voice oddly high, as if she was reaching her rage breaking point.
"Indeed. We know of your feelings towards Shuchiin's student council president. And so we kidnapped him as a bargaining chip." I explained. Kaguya looked at me intensely, searching for any lies. I kept the best poker face I could muster, not yielding to her piercing red gaze. In truth, I didn't kidnap him, I just stole his phone and placed it in an undisclosed location. Rumor has it Kaguya tracks his phone, so I thought a strong bluff could come in handy.
"Lies. Hayasaka, check the president's location at once."
"As you command, Lady Kaguya." She pulled out a tablet and interacted with it for a few seconds. So the tracking part was true. Her forehead progressively creased as she fell for my bluff. "He's not at his house. The president is in a factory inside the industrial district for some reason.
"What?!" Kaguya looked at the tablet, her eyes widened and she focused her furious eyes onto mine, "how dare you bring the president into this!"
I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, "All's fair in love and war, Miss Kaguya. It would seem we're at an impasse then."
"What do you want? State your business." Kaguya crossed her arms.
"Well, seeing as how we're being assimilated into the Shinomiya Group anyway, I want to be a part of this household. Perhaps a butler or some sort would suffice?" I said. The maid looked uneasy and was going back and forth between Kaguya and me.
"Lady Kaguya," Hayasaka said, "you can't be seriously considering this boy's proposal. He was committing corporate sabotage just a few minutes ago."
"He has the president, Hayasaka. I can't just leave him inside a factory all alone. Get a squad to that location at once." Kaguya flicked her wrist and four men began leaving to head to the factory. Shit, she's already calling my bluff. As expected of a daughter of the Shinomiyas.
"There's no need for that," I spoke, and pulled out my cellphone. I then pretended to send a text message to my "men" about releasing Miyuki Shirogane. "We'll release him once you fulfill my request; he'll be back home safe and sound as soon as you comply, Miss Kaguya."
Kaguya pursed her lips and looked down in thought. A few moments passed by before she looked back at my eyes, her gaze as piercing as ever. "Alright."
"Lady Kaguya, you can't be serious! You know we can't trust him." Hayasaka objected. Kaguya looked at her with a sigh and shook her head. Hayasaka seemed to get some hidden message and looked away.
"Just so we're clear Hayabusa, you will be a butler to the Shinomiya household as of this moment, answering directly to me. You will be partnering with Hayasaka, she'll teach you what the job entails." Kaguya said, and gave another signal to her men, who finally put down their rifles. Hayasaka still looked troubled and glared at me. I gave her a confident smirk and put down my hands.
"Come then Hayabusa," Kaguya said, "you'll be given a room in the servant's quarters. I'll also arrange for your belongings to be transferred here." And with that said, she began walking away. Hayasaka remained in thought near the door as silence passed between us.
"Just so we're clear," Hayasaka spoke, "I don't trust you one bit, partner." She turned and left the room, following Kaguya's footsteps. I shook my head and began to walk beside her. Several moments passed and she showed me my room, which was coincidentally next to her own.
"Good night, Hayasaka." I said to her. She paused just as she was about to enter the door.
"Good night… Hayabusa." She entered and that was that. I did the same, observing the room around me. It only had the bare essentials, which were a bed and some furniture.
I plopped down on the mattress as it made a squeaking sound. I sighed and opened the amulet on my neck, which had a picture of her.
I'm sorry mom, looks like I dug myself into an even deeper grave.
This was going to be a real pain in the ass to deal with.
The sunlight beaming down the windows was painful to my eyes. Reluctantly, I began the process of waking up. I sat up and stretched my arms, yawning. I looked around my surroundings. Still an empty room, I thought. I walked towards the cabinet and opened it, to my surprise, it had all of my clothes. Looks like the Shinomiyas work fast. As I eyed my various clothes, a particular set caught my attention. It was a set of butler clothes, vaguely reminiscent of Sebastian's from Black Butler. With a sigh, I began the process of putting it on. Looks like I'm a full-fledged Shinomiya butler as of this moment. I sighed. From son of Hayabusa Yatsuharu to a lowly butler. Don't these things usually happen in anime and mangas?
Anyway, time for the game plan. I thought. Cuddle up to the Shinomiyas, specifically Kaguya, convince her to release our company, and then walk out of here still rich.
I stared at my appearance in front of the cabinet mirror. I looked presentable enough, though I don't know the standards of the Shinomiya household butlers. They'll probably require me to be proficient at tea-serving, and at the same time, be able to fight off a terrorist cell. I chuckle to myself, I could do small-scale infiltrations, but the latter is just ridiculous.
Suddenly a knock sounded from the door. I opened the door to see Hayasaka, still in her maid outfit. Though I'm sure she already took a bath, if the scent of her perfume is to be believed. Dang that smells good, I thought.
"Ah, I see you're already up, Hayabusa-san." Hayasaka spoke, eyeing my appearance with a critical eyes. "Yes, that seems sufficient enough, but this is crooked, hold still..." She began the process of fixing whatever article of clothing I got wrong, but I was distracted by her pretty blonde hair... and her perfume. Damn, this is really good.
"Are you perhaps thinking perverted thoughts early this morning? What a lecherous man you are." Hayasaka sighed, and took a step back from me, eyeing me again. With a satisfied nod, she seemed to approve of my new appearance. To be honest, I didn't know what she did, but as long as it pleased her, I guess that's fine.
"So, are we done here?" I asked her.
"Yes, it's time to wake Lady Kaguya up," she replied. She bade me to follow her, and I did. While walking, I took a look around the Shinomiya household. It certainly was fancy, with exotic paintings, and really great aesthetics. As expected of the Shinomiyas, I thought. We just live in a large compound, but this would suit European royalty.
"I see you're observing your surroundings, as expected of you," Hayasaka spoke as I walked behind her.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"We did some research on you and your family before we began to execute our trap," she began to explain, "your company's total assets amount to 558 billion yen, your father is a shrewd businessman, and you are trained in various martial arts, very observant and you're skilled enough to commit company sabotage. Tell me, was this your first time?"
"First time of what?"
"First time committing company sabotage."
"Oh, no," I denied. "I've done this about five times before, all to companies that my father was aiming to gobble up to add to our assets."
"I see, very interesting." She said with a deadpan voice.
A lengthy silence passed between us as we began going up the stairs into Kaguya's room.
"So, tell me about yourself, Hayasaka." I said. Might as well nip this uncomfortable silence in the bud.
"There's nothing to tell, I was born into a servant family. I was raised to serve Lady Kaguya, and here we are." She spoke, clearly not wanting to reveal too much of herself. Well, that should be expected, at least.
"Shall I guess more?" I prodded her, at worst this will make her angry and not make her trust me more. At best it'll amuse her.
"You're very welcome to." Hayasaka said as she looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
"You and Kaguya don't exactly have a master and servant relationship, if you're free to question your master's judgement." I observed. This got silence out of her for a few minutes, but I don't think I was wrong.
"As I said, very observant," Hayasaka agreed with a roll of her eyes. "Although we are officially master and servant, she's more like my sister. Oh, and one piece of advice..."
"What is it?" I asked.
She fixed me an icy glare. "Please do not call your new master without any honorifics. You will address her as Lady Kaguya, or Ojou-sama if you must."
I gulped. "Noted."
"Excellent, now let us cut the chit chat, we're here." Hayasaka said as she opened the oaken doors into Lady Kaguya's room. It looked just like any other teenager's room, study table, book cases, furniture, although she did have a really big bed. I have no idea what size that is.
"Lady Kaguya," Hayasaka said as she shook her awake, "please wake up, you will be late for school."
"Hm? Oh, it's you Hayasaka." Kaguya-sama moaned as she sat up and stretched. The sunlight streaming in made her look pretty, although Hayasaka was more my type. It probably wouldn't be proper for a butler to fall in love with his master, and I had an even less of a chance, given that I only got this job because I managed to fool Lady Kaguya. That's quite the achievement in itself. I suppose Miyuki Shirogane is her weakness after all.
"And I see we have our new 'butler' in our presence." Kaguya mused. Hayasaka looked at me, as if waiting for something. Maybe I should backflip and perform a trick?
"Good morning, Lady Kaguya." I said, bowing. Kaguya seemed satisfied as she nodded at me.
"Good morning to you too, Hayabusa-san. I trust you slept well?" She smiled at me, though I could feel no warmth coming from them. I did threaten her lover's life after all. By the gods, it's a miracle I even got this job.
"Yes, Lady Kaguya. I slept very well." I replied, and somehow that displeased her, as she made a face. Oh, crap. Don't tell me I already screwed up.
"Oh no, it's not what you're thinking Hayabusa-san," Kaguya chuckled, "it's just that I'm not used to a previous enemy becoming an ally. Tell me," she said, adopting a Gendo pose, "are we friends?"
"Of course, Lady Kaguya. We are friends."
"Hmm~ is that so~" She says in a sing-song voice. By the gods that is unnerving. Is she secretly a psycho or something? I have no idea what Miyuki Shirogane sees in this woman.
"Lady Kaguya, enough already. You're scaring the fresh meat." Hayasaka sighs and walked back behind me to get a tray full of gourmet foods to serve to Kaguya. How the hell did that appear without me noticing? Are all Shinomiya employees secretly assassins or something? God damn, the more minutes I stay here, the more likely I'll probably get killed.
"Sorry about that Hayabusa-san," Kaguya said as she chuckled, "now, on to business regarding your employment here in the Shinomiya group. You'll be given a salary of 5 million yen, with added benefits to things such as life insurance." Wow, that's generous.
While eating, she continued. "You'll also be transferring to Shuchiin Academy as my personal butler. I trust you have no problems with that, Hayabusa-san?"
"No, Lady Kaguya. I've been homeschooled all my life, so I'm a bit interested in going to school. Especially one as prestigious as Shuchiin. It is an honor." I said. Kaguya closed her eyes in satisfaction, whether to my answer or to the deliciousness of the food, I don't know. Probably both.
"Very good." She turned her gaze towards Hayasaka and I, before sighing. "Well, don't just stand there. I'm sure you two haven't eaten breakfast yet. And Hayabusa-san, you've changed into your butler uniform but have you even taken a bath yet?"
Huh, good point.
As Hayasaka's emotionless face betrayed the smallest hint of amusement, we took our leave from Kaguya. She and I went down to the servant's dining room to eat. And I was shown the way to the servant's bathrooms. Which were very luxurious in their own right. As I sunk myself down the warm water, Hayasaka appeared in my mind.
Goddamn it, I was fanboying all over her perfume, but when it comes to me, I didn't even think to take a bath before changing clothes.
Yup, this would be such a pain in the ass indeed.
A/N: Hello, and welcome to my very first fanfiction! This will sort of be deviating from the main plot line, but hopefully it'll still feel like Kaguya-sama! Any thoughts on the fanfic is welcome!